


Bonds and Broken Barriers

by stepOnMeZenos



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Au Ra Xaela Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Other, Otherwise Ambiguous Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), The Echo (Final Fantasy XIV), The Resonant (Final Fantasy XIV), ZenoHika Week 2020 (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26176528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stepOnMeZenos/pseuds/stepOnMeZenos
Summary: What happens when the Echo interacts with the Resonant?ZenoHika Week day 7, prompt: Gift / Hear, Feel, Think
Relationships: Zenos yae Galvus/Warrior of Light
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Bonds and Broken Barriers

**Author's Note:**

> Day 7! Now I guess I have no excuse not to work on that exchange fic due soon anymore...

They float in nothingness. A purple haze shrouds all, swirling and surging around them. 

_Is this the void between worlds?_

The thought originates in Zenos' mind, and yet the Warrior of Light echoes it simultaneously. It isn't a matter of being able to hear each other's thoughts. The barriers between their souls seem to have broken down almost completely (they both think at the same time). Their minds meld—thoughts drift from one to another freely. What one feels, the other feels as well.

Is there even such a thing as _one_ and _other_ anymore?

They are pulled taught between feeling excited and apprehensive about this merging of the souls. The thrill Zenos feels at experiencing the innermost workings of his friend's mind is tempered by his—their—worry over how they will return to normal, or if they even can. They remain distinct enough to trace emotions to one source, but neither of them can hazard a guess as to how long they will still be able to do that.

Almost against his will, Zenos recalls his research on the Echo and the Resonant. The knowledge mingles with the honed instinct the Warrior of Light has developed with the Echo. Explanations for their current state flash through their minds, theories stemming from how the Resonant might interact with the Echo, as well as ways for them to return to their bodies. 

Then they stop, halted by Zenos' wish not to end what is happening prematurely. 

Memories start surfacing now, but it proves impossible to tell apart which belong to whom. Who grew up in the Azim Steppe, who spent most of his life in the imperial palace? They can no longer tell. Both remember both with perfect clarity. 

Whoever got to have the childhood in the steppe was more fortunate than the other. 

Might it not be possible to simply rewrite one set of the memories and replace it with something better…?

One half of them recoils from the idea so powerfully that the question is tabled, never to come up again. 

Still, Zenos eagerly examines both sets of memories and nudges his other half into dredging up even more. Whichever turns out to be his own, he wishes— _they_ wish—to take these impressions of the other's life with them back into the waking world.

The better to remember this glorious moment when they truly became one… 

They're in the royal palace, sitting through endless dull history lessons. 

They're in the steppe, bending down to pick up dung. They'll be the one to bring back the most out of all the children sent out to gather fuel. 

They stand in an empty training hall, listening to an instructor droning on and on about things they already ḱnow. 

They emerge from Bardam's Mettle, holding their yol whistle in hand and laughing triumphantly. Now they are fully fledged Xaela warriors, at last!

Their new sword instructor beats them down, again and again, until they lean how to copy his skills and kill him in retaliation. 

Their tribe lost in the Naadam, but they fought valiantly. After the new khagan is proclaimed, they gather together with food and drink and celebrate despite their loss. 

Their great-grandfather denigrates their father in the same breath as giving them a backhanded compliment. The evening descends into passive-aggressiveness. 

They meet themselves on the battlefield, looking themselves in the eye… 

It is the jarring sensation of seeing their dance happening from both sides simultaneously that tears their unity apart. They're separated by a disorienting, gut-wrenching shift in reality. For a near endless moment, Zenos falls through space and time. Then he finds himself back in his body. Everything feels leaden and quieted, as if covered in fog. 

It's a lonely feeling, being all on his own in his head once more. Already he misses the closeness he felt to his friend. It's so silent now… 

Next to him on the bed, the Warrior of Light stirs. “That was very much not what I expected to happen,“ he groans. 

Did he enjoy what happened? It is the impression Zenos had, but there is the possibility that it was all his own excitement reflecting onto him. How strange it feels not to _know_. Not to have an instinctive understanding of his friend's deepest emotions. 

“But how wonderful the results,“ he says. If he can't experience his friend's mind anymore, then he will simply ask, though words are a cheap substitute.

The Warrior of Light laughs. “Of course you would think so.“ He pushes himself up, leans forward and pokes Zenos between the ribs. “It was illuminating, I'll give you that much. Words can't convey what memories so easily do.“

That's right. Zenos remembers the memories, though it has become easier now to tell which ones are his. He never set foot in the Azim Steppe. Those memories were never his. 

It's a little disappointing, if he's honest with himself. 

“I'll take you to see the steppe sometime.“

Zenos looks up. The Warrior of Light, sitting next to him, grins. “I _was_ you for a moment. Did you think I didn't notice how much that life appealed to you?“

“I had no intention of hiding it from you, even if I could have.“ But how nice that sounds—to _be_ each other. The ultimate unity… all barriers fallen, all distinctions erased. “We will do this again.“ 

“What, not even a question?“ The Warrior of Light snorts. “Luckily for you, I'm not opposed. Think of the things we can find out through these experiments!“

“Yes, how much closer we can grow—“

“Well, yes, that too.“ The Warrior of Light leans over and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. He tries to pull away, but Zenos wraps an arm around his head and gives him a proper kiss. 

His friend ought to know better than to think he'd get away with a little peck. 

Do they both feel the same while kissing? While holding hands, while hugging? It's a question Zenos never thought to entertain. After all, until now, he considered it impossible to truly know what goes on in another's head. In light of today's events, however, a thousand opportunities and more have opened up to them. 

And Zenos, for his parts, so looks forward to delving in the mind of his first and best friend once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments appreciated.


End file.
